Format: 9 holes each day. On all three tryout days, participants will play the front nine holes from the white tees. Participants with the top ten scores over 27 holes will make the team. A hole-by-hole playoff format will be used to break tie scores following the 27 holes if necessary.

Fees: $12 per day. Players should pay greens fees each day in the club house prior to warm up.

Sign Ups: Coach Peters will meet with all lower students during the first week of school (August 14-18) to conduct signups for the tryouts.

Additional Information: Range finders are permitted during tryout rounds. Driving range and putting green are available for warm-up as time permits. Parents are responsible for transportation. Parents are allowed to attend but must remain on the cart paths at all times and are not permitted to communicate with participants. Please remember to pack a water bottle, snack, and sunscreen.

If you have additional questions, please contact Coach Jason Peters at (901) 574-4161 or jason.peters@musowls.org

July 12, 2017

Teenage stress is on the rise according to some in the school business. Here at mid-summer, we invite you to pause and consider some things from our perspective. As an example of teenage angst, here's the highlights of a recent discussion according to Michel Lafrance, school headmaster of West Island College in Montreal, Canada:

1.Teens are often overwhelmed by the magnitude of scheduled activities in their lives. This includes school work, sports practices and competitions, artistic endeavours, learning a new language, tutoring, academic enrichment, religious commitments, family events and so on.

2. Social media is consuming their lives through constant Snapchats, Instagram posts, likes, comments, the perceived necessity for selfie after selfie after selfie in order to get the “right” one that is worthy of being posted. Their online identity is sometimes cared for and valued more than their real personality. Online friends are more coveted than real friends. Relationships are becoming more superficial and artificial whether with friends or family members.

4. Teenagers, through much of these external factors, are not well equipped to deal with the pressures that they face today. The stress that they are feeling is being manifested as anxiety and depression instead of being confronted by positive decision-making and perseverance.

5. The ability to manage the stress via executive functioning skills such as critical thinking, self-regulation, impulse control, organization and planning and prioritizing is often non-existent in teens.

6. The cycle of stress, anxiety, and self-doubt creates a vicious circle that most teens have difficulty extracting themselves from.

In our opinion from our unique vantage point working with adolescent boys at the Hull Lower School, even some perspectives as parents ourselves, there's a lot of truth to Lafrance's comments. Think about what he's saying. Talk about it with your families, obviously with your children, and observe what the kids say. You know your children, and your suspicions of what is both said and unsaid are probably spot-on.

Our brief responses to the six points presented above, for what it's worth:

Teens being "overwhelmed by the magnitude of scheduled activities:" If that conclusion is reached, that's on the parents. No student resides at school or is reported on April 15 to the IRS as a dependent on the school/religious organization/team/club's annual filing. The child is a minor, and his quality of life is the primary responsibility of the parents. If, in your estimation, your child is over-scheduled, please help him make a priority list in accordance with the family priorities. Not everything is a priority. Kids need to learn that. Some parents need to learn this as well. It's not always an easy exercise as there are often numerous options for these kids, but they simply cannot do everything that they want to without feeling overwhelmed, parents included.

Social media and online realities: Parents pay the bills for smart phones and electronic devices/services that deliver the new media platforms to their children. We wish parents would Wait Until 8th, but these aren't our children. There is no need for a smart phone and its associated popular apps for the MUS mission to be fulfilled in the lives our students. More, the unintended consequences of social media often distract from life at school. In other words, the new media is often invasive, counter productive, and can result in a huge waste of time. Be forewarned.

Personal time for teens: Amen. Slow down, everybody. See #1 and #2. In order to encourage "opportunities for relaxation, enjoying calm and peace, introspection and reflection, face to face conversations, shared experiences and relationship building," the MUS Lower School does not allow smart phone access during school hours. For the same reasons, we don't allow the boys to wear an Apple Watch.

Teens not being well-equipped to handle today's pressures: As for our students, we disagree. Our qualified applicants who enroll at MUS were raised/are continuing to be raised by serious parents and grandparents/coaches/mentors who require accountability through the forging of personal character, corporate citizenship. More, schools inherit what happens in the home, and we inherit boys of strong moral character who take instruction well, who can prioritize responsibilities, and who therefore have capacity to deal with today's pressures, under adult guidance where necessary. These boys are not expected to act as adults, but they are expected to be coachable, to learn how not to procrastinate, to work on delayed gratification. The pressure dissipates when boys plan and take responsibility for their lives.

Personal management: Ah, great segue! Here's where families and students, especially, get their bang for their buck. MUS strives to be both fair and reasonable with our youngsters' self management by holding the entire community to a functioning Honor Code and Community Creed. This year, we plan on Lower School students crafting their own Community Creed in response to the prevailing school code and creed as a way to personalize their investment and to enhance school spirit. Our youngest students are entirely capable of demonstrating the personal management MUS historically requires. It may require a few corrective measures (demerit, homework detention, Friday Night School), but the boys will arrive there soon enough. Ask the alumni.

Cycle of stress difficult to escape: If left unchecked, yes. However, our students have enough priorities to occupy their time positively before the popular culture sucks them down into the digital abyss. Right now, mid-July, Summer math and reading requirements should be in full swing. After that, the trash needs to be taken out, the cars washed, the grass cut, the fence painted, the dog bathed, rooms organized, grandparents visited, volunteer hours served, getting in shape for the up-and-coming athletic season, piano practice...yes, all of these are human priorities for a well-developed youngster. Want to stop the cycle of stress? Put the children to task. Help someone in need. They will be better for it, happier, appreciative, more resilient, and ultimately more prepared for their futures that demand academic excellence, cultivation of service and leadership, all supported by the development of strong moral character.